Barcelona, ​​​​Inter and newly promoted Brest win again in the Champions League. Bizarre penalty condemns Aston Villa

Barcelona and Inter Milan won again in the Champions League on Wednesday, although both former defending champions move up in the table ahead of up-and-coming newcomers Brest.

Aston Villa started the week at the top Table with 36 teams but his winning streak ended after one bizarre punishment was awarded when defender Tyrone Mings picked up the ball in Club Brugge's penalty area, resulting in a 1-0 defeat that saw the English club drop to eighth place.

Paris Saint-Germain, in his first season without Kylian Mbappéare well back in 25th place after Atletico Madrid sealed a stoppage-time win for the Spanish side at the Parc des Princes.

Barcelona's impressive scoring form continued with a 5-2 win at Red Star Belgrade – their seventh consecutive victory since early October at a rate of four goals per game. Robert Lewandowski scored twice and has 21 goals this season.

Inter Milan suffocated Arsenal in a 1-0 win at the San Siro, sealed by a Hakan Çalhanoğlu penalty in first-half stoppage time.

Inter are unbeaten on 10 points and in fifth place, one less than Brest, who won 2-1 at Sparta Prague. The French debutant should surely move into the knockout phase from February.

Atalanta won 2-0 in Stuttgart to remain unbeaten on eight points, and Salzburg scored their first goals and points in a 3-1 win at Feyenoord.

Bayern Munich won 1-0 at home against Benfica in a game that was delayed for 15 minutes due to crowds and then played in a subdued atmosphere Medical incident for a fan.

Shakhtar Donetsk playmaker Heorhiy Sudakov provided a good assist and an even better goal in the Ukrainian champions' 2-1 win over Young Boys. Shakhtar's No. 10 showed why he is expected to be the club's next big sale.

Liverpool, who beat Bayer Leverkusen 4-0 on Tuesday, lead the table at the halfway point of the eight-round program.

Liverpool are the only team with four wins in a row, while five teams have four losses. They are Leipzig, Sturm Graz, Young Boys, Red Star and Slovan Bratislava.

Two Italian teams – Inter Milan and Atalanta – have yet to concede a goal in four games. Another Italian team, Bologna, is the only team that didn't score any goals.

Villa slides

Villa had topped the table new league phase format after three consecutive wins without conceding a goal – and it took a bizarre incident before goalkeeper Emiliano Martínez was finally beaten.

Mings was penalized for picking up the ball when Martínez appeared to restart play with a goal kick forward to his teammate. Mings took a few steps to collect the ball with his left hand and returned to place it in the six-yard box.

“This is the biggest mistake I have seen in my career,” said Villa coach Unai Emery. “This has only happened once in my entire life. Today.”

Brugge captain Hans Vanaken placed the free kick in the 52nd minute to Martínez's left, while the Argentine world champion goalkeeper skipped away to the right.

Bayern and Dinamo

It was the outstanding result of the opening week of the new Champions League in September: Bayern Munich 9, Dinamo Zagreb 2.

It was the first time in the 32-year Champions League era that a team scored nine goals in a game Dinamo has fired its coach two days later.

Since? Bayern lost twice, including 4-1 against Barcelona, ​​and Dinamo won twice. At the end of Wednesday's game, Bayern were in 17th place with six points, one place behind Dinamo on seven. If these rankings hold until January, they will meet twice more in the knockout playoff round.

Next

The fifth round in three weeks perhaps has the glory of 144 games in the league phase: Liverpool vs. Real Madrid.

This game on November 27 is a rematch of the 2022 and 2018 finals, both won by Madrid, and the 1981 European Cup title clash, which Liverpool won.

There is another final second leg: Bayern Munich hosts PSG on November 26 in a repeat of the pandemic season finale played without fans in Lisbon in August 2020. Additionally, sixth-placed Barcelona host Brest, a game that may have been overlooked in the August draw, but the French side are currently in fourth place.

Only the best eight teams in January advance directly to the round of 16 in March.

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AP Football: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer